An angry back-and-forth is developing as Australia and China stand their ground on an altercation involving the two countries’ aircrafts.
An Australian navy helicopter was forced to take evasive action after a Chinese air force plane launched flares closely ahead of it over the Yellow Sea on Saturday. Australia called the move “unsafe” but China hit back with a very different account, saying it behaved appropriately and asked Australia to stop its “provocations” near Chinese airspace.
Albanese is standing firm over China’s ‘unsafe’ behaviour in the air.
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was having none of it on Wednesday, standing firm on Canberra’s position.
“There’s no question that the Australian Defence Force personnel were both in international waters and in international airspace,” he told reporters in Perth on Wednesday.
The opposition has supported the government’s position, saying it’s entirely appropriate for Australian vessels to be active in international waters.
“It was not only not in China’s territorial waters, it wasn’t even in China’s exclusive economic zone,” opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson told ABC radio.
“So it appears to be way out of the bounds of behaviour from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force.”
– With AAP